Coaching Philosophies and the Gregg Berhalter System

It's something that we've had a problem with going back to WCQ last cycle (particularly in the first game of every window, it was a pattern), and has gradually gotten worse. It wasn't a problem in the World Cup, and we've occasionally brought the focus and intensity, such as our NL matches against Mexico and sometimes Canada, but this year I think I can count more unfocused performances lacking in intensity than I can matches where we knew that we were in a real match from minute 1.

 

I think the big difference here is that Klinsmann didn't really have a consistent plan. He'd do things that could have benefits, like yoga or something, and then completely drop it. I think a lot of what he said wasn't wrong so much as he never really followed through on much. And then he stopped doing anything, like game plans.

Pochettino seems to be fairly consistent and a notoriously hard worker, at least at club.

What will be far more interesting to me on the fitness stuff is whether he sets a standard for the national team in terms of fitness level that's above the club level these guys have, and whether he can get them to maintain that level by working at home rather than just a couple days at camp.

I mean, this workouts are more a message/standard or a template, but working out 2-3 days every two months clearly doesn't do much.

 

Yep, 100%.

 

The frustrating thing is that it didn't take a Pochettino to see that. All of us saw it. Gregg saw it, too. Gregg just didn't know what he could do about it, and neither did Varas. (And the answer may well have been "nothing," because at some point players just tend to start to tune their managers out, and nothing was going to change the situation except a starkly new voice.)

 

Oh, some of our players definitely have intensity and focus issues at club.

But yes, I expect Pochettino will bring more than Klinsmann or Berhalter. Most important will be the instruction, I think -- I think a LOT of the differences will come down to some of the finer points of instruction on positioning, decision-making, reading the defense and movement.

On higher level tactics, much will come down to whether Pochettino can help the defense enough to stay as offensively aggressive as he generally is. Berhalter couldn't or wouldn't, and the biggest issue with our offense was a lack of numbers, IMO. Poch's history says he will commit numbers and take his chances with his counterpress. He's had better offenses than most, but his teams have had defensive issues at times. If he can't fix that, it'll be interesting to see how he reacts.

 

Our talent on this team overall plays best when we press. It suits our players' strengths (especially in the midfield, where we have elite-level talent for the press, especially if Tyler's healthy), and I think it suits their mentality as well, because it keeps them focused on being proactive and making simple decisions. I've often wanted more numbers forward, but that's even more risky than the press itself is. Without having yet seen a minute of American PochBall, I think it's safe to assume that much of this will hinge on our ability to find at least 1 if not 2 central defenders who can defend the space behind. I'm 99% certain in my heart that Ream's truly useful days for us are done, and that Richards will not be able to be that guy. He'll be able to compliment another, faster, more defensively intense 1v1 guy. We need Miles, frankly. And we could really use a Long-like guy to challenge him, too (but it can't be Long anymore, obviously).

If I could poach one player from our region, it wouldn't be Davies (we have a better winger, and we have a fullback who isn't much worse). It would be Bombito. We'd be able to get away with being much more daring with him at the back. Just pair him with a thinker/passer/organizer of your choice and it would work, even with our frustrating GK pool.

 

i think the nature of the international game will help in increasing the defensive side. In a league like the Prem, Poch had to win certain games to maintain the "top 4" objective (UCL). A game against a mid table or lower table team was a must win to stay in the race for a top 4 finish. In tournament play the objective is to get out of group while honing the team for successive must win elimination games. Argentina lost to Saudi in the first game of group in Qatar then won the whole thing.

 

Yeah, I think that's a big part of it. At some point, your bag of tricks is empty, and there's nothing to be done. Certainly, I think Varas would have needed to be Vince Lombardi or something.

I think there's also a decent chance that Berhalter really didn't understand that his job was at risk (which is a big blind spot).

When the US had a terribly flat performance and lost to Canada in the Nations League in 2019, he responded with a completely difference defense (that, IMO, really energized the team as well) and we killed Canada with a less talented roster.

But Berhalter kept the gameplan very passive in the second term despite increasing lapses. He was much more a pragmatist in the first cycle than he gets credit for -- both the move to the press and shift to "verticality" were major changes in gameplan predicated on pragmatism over what seems to be his preferred gameplan.

I wonder if he thought he had all the time in the world with no WCQ to play as he wanted and then again shift back to something more pragmatic? Or was he just like, "this time we're doing what I originally intended no matter what?"

Or was it a reaction to thinking he overworked guys in the World Cup or that he was overworking guys who had not had a real break in ages?

 

I don't disagree on the centerback, but I think Pochettino would tell you the key to not getting beat behind isn't just the backline, it's the counterpress.

His whole plan is that you keep someone from counterattacking by being on them as soon as they take the ball and hounding everyone until you get it back or they have to slow and stop to control possession.

Sargent or whomever is at striker may be as important as the CB. It's incredibly hard to start a quick counter if someone is on top of you.

 

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Blessed be the name of Jesus. Thank you Lord.

 

Absolutely, but when that press inevitably gets beaten on occasion, then your house is in your CB and GK's hands...

If it's getting beaten more than on occasion, then you either have the wrong personnel doing the pressing, or they're just not getting it, and you have to go to some plan B.

Now that you mention it, no one had said it earlier, I don't think, in the "who might enjoy a Poch renaissance" thread, but Sargent just might go to the head of the class with Balogun temporarily out, largely on the strength of his defending. Since we don't really have the center back for it, we'll have to come up with some other answers to make it work or else abandon the idea, and that's one likely place, now that I think of it.

 

Sarge has been my pick as "most benefitting" for a while, at least amongst attackers, for exactly that reason.

 

Chicago Fire fan seems optimistic about the Gregg hire...

 

Consider what we have had over the past 12 years:
Klopas
Klopas (interim)
Ezra Hendrickson
Klopas (interim)
Raphael Wicky (who?)
Paunovic
Frank Yallop
Klopas

I am not happy about or even "optimistic" about the Berhalter hire, but we could (and did) do worse.

 

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Praised Pochettino hire as well.

 

Mentioned “supplying him players” and the upcoming working relationship. Fire swooping for big name USMNT DPs confirmed.

 

Think it was also a jab at Heitz

 

That's six Gs?

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Bruce and Gregg taking in the USMNT game... neither with their own players on the roster

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